Computer keeps restarting on its own

[jdkunya]

I have a Lenovo IdeaCentre K450. Just yesterday i replace the 280 watt with a 600 watt power supply, and replaced the geforce gt 630 graphics card with a geforce GTX 660. So far (twice now), the computer has just restarted on its own. Both times during playing a game (hitman absolution and duke nukem forever). Anyone know a fix for this? I tied the wires togheter so they wouldnt touch or interfere with anything like the cooling fans. The computer is not making any new noises, seems to be working just fine.

[Zangrief]

run a programme that checks the heat of internal devices. maybe your mainboard, gfx card or cpu gets too hot or your psu has a malfunction.

[rotNdude]

Automatic restart on a fatal system error
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/automatic-restart-windows-7.htm

Post the rest of your specs and what OS you're running

[jdkunya]

windows 8.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideacentre-k450-desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/3275001.p?id=1219091559948&skuId=3275001
for the specs.

hasnt restarted yet. been about half an hour. ill check that automatic restart link to see if it has any helpful ideas.

alright using that link i managed to stop automatic restart. so if it dies again, at least somethign might pop up so i can figure out the problem.

[jdkunya]

It has been continuing to do it, seems to be when i play games. I fear that my computer is overheating, probably the graphics card working to hard. I'm giong to take off the side of my computer and see if it continues to shut off. That would at least confirm its overheating.

[_I_]

restarting could be windows crash/bsod and auto reboot

or hardware issue
cpu/gpu overheating is most common

first disable auto restart on bsod
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/automatic-restart-windows-7.htm

if it stays on the bsod screen, itll help figure out what crashed

[Pink-Moonlight]

Another good thing to do is clean the dust off the CPU and GPU fans every now and then, as dust builds up quick in these areas and can slow down fan speed. Also, make sure the CPU fan is properly attached. I had a PC that was doing this and it turned out the CPU fan just wasn't snaped on all the way (I had reciently replaced the old fan and the new one was on loose), so it kept doing a safty shutdown.

As someone else sugested, a program to check your CPU temp is indeed a good idea. SpeedFan is a good one. I use it a lot.

[NoOne]

I had a computer with a similar issue, turned out that graphics card was shorting out on the cpu cooler - metal and card heated up, expanded and made contact - when the machine shut down, it cooled off and went ok for a while - check for dust bunnies first though..

[jdkunya]

shouldnt be problems with dust. computers new. took side off, no restarts yet. havent ran it much though, we'll see if taking that side off does anything.

[jdkunya]

took the cover off. hasnt restarted yet so i take it something with overheating is the problem.

[PowerHaus930]

download HWMonitor to check your temps.

[jdkunya]

as of right now id have to guess its the graphics card i put in, the gtx 660. its near the bottom of the computer and the fan for it is facing down, so theres not much room for it to grab air between the card and the metal bottom of the computer. But yes, ill download that and see if that really is the case.

[_I_]

if its an oem case, get a new case with better airflow
most oems have top mount psu, which do not pull out hot air easily
spend $20-40 on a decent case with bottom mount psu and top fans